A lot of people associate the Celtics with 5-out spacing and three-point shooting, and sure, that’s a big part of Joe Mazzulla’s system, but it’s not the core principle. The Celtics are truly all about winning the possession battle, maximizing their attempts while minimizing their opponents’, and doing it relies on floor spacing.
Signing Mitchell Robinson with the mid-level exception is going to do wonders for the system.
He’s not going to shoot threes or space the floor at all as a shooting threat. His trips to the free throw line are even an adventure, as Celtics fans know well by now. But that’s not going to be an issue for Boston, because he won’t be asked or needed to do those things.
Mitch Robinson one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA
Robinson will always be surrounded by shooters and asked to set screens, roll hard to the basket, finish around the rim, and dominate the offensive boards. And he is elite at those things. Mitch is a giant body and a good athlete. He’ll open up lots of space for Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, and others. And when the defense helps, Robinson can finish above the rim, which will also allow him to play out of the dunker spot.
And therein lies the real beauty of this signing; Robinson may be the best offensive rebounder in the NBA. Despite never playing over 27 minutes per game, Mitch has averaged 3.7 o-boards per game, led the league in 2022-23 with 4.5, had 4.6 the following season in fewer minutes, and put up 4.2 last season in just 19.6 minutes per game. He averaged more than 22 rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds per 100 possessions. That's absurd. Rebounding, on the offensive end in general, became a huge part of the Celtics’ success last season, and Mitch is only going to enhance that.
We saw a player of this mold have huge success in Boston last year with Neemias Queta, and Robinson will bring a similar skill set. Now the Celtics can have 48 minutes a night of elite rim protection and rebounding between the two, and they still have Luka Garza when they want to go with a stretch-big man.
Celtics now have solid center trio with Robinson, Queta, & Garza
The depth is also important because of the possibility of hack-a-Mitch. We’ve seen Mazzulla employ it, and teams will no doubt intentionally foul Robinson to send the career 51% free throw shooter to the line. But the Celtics should be open to teams wasting fouls and getting them into the bonus early. If it becomes a problem, they still have Queta and Garza lying in wait. Playing 30+ minutes a night may have been too much for Neemy. And being the lone backup may have been too much for Garza. Now, everyone should be able to thrive in their roles.
And on the defensive end, Robinson will be an anchor back there with his rim protection. The fact that the Celtics are also taking a key player away from the Knicks is just an added bonus in this deal. So, don’t worry about any potential fit issues here. Sure, it would be great to get a shooting big; we’d all love a big who can switch consistently, and a guy who could give them a double-big look would be great.
But that guy simply doesn’t exist at the moment. Obviously, Mitch is far from perfect. He has been injury-prone and will need his minutes managed, and there could be some tough matchups in the playoffs. But the Celtics went out and got the best center available, and he’s going to fit like a glove with this team. Boston got the size, toughness, and frontcourt depth they needed with their MLE, and they weakened the Knicks in the process. This is a huge win.
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